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3 officers, 4 deaths and a host of questions

Investigation finds officers with multiple issues on tThree Cincinnati Police Department officers who shot and killed citizens since 2010 have a history of law breaking, excessive uses of force and protocol violations, an Enquirer investigation found

3 officers, 4 deaths and a host of questions

Anternitia O'Neal’s 19 year-old son, Dontez O'Neal, was shot and killed by a Cincinnati Police officer in 2012 in circumstances she disputes. Dontez was one of 17 suspects shot and killed by CPD since 2010. The officer was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Cara Owsley

A snapshot taken from a surveillance camera shows the struggle between Cincinnati Police Officer, Oscar Cyranek, and sixteen-year-old, Davon Mullins.(Photo: Provided)

Three Cincinnati Police Department officers who shot and killed citizens since 2010 have a history of law breaking, excessive uses of force and protocol violations, an Enquirer investigation found.

These include:

An officer whose actions have led the city of Cincinnati to settle with two separate families over either shootings or other uses of force for nearly $400,000. That same officer was also embroiled in an internal scandal after being charged for driving under the influence.

Another officer shot two suspects and had several other controversial incidents, including hitting a pedestrian with his cruiser, before fatally shooting a 19-year old four years ago. Overall, that officer crashed his police car eight times.

A third had a string of complaints for excessive force before killing a teen on Fountain Square under questionable circumstances.

All were cleared of any wrongdoing in the shootings by CPD’s internal investigation system, the city’s independent review process, and the Hamilton County prosecutor. And all three are still on active duty, patrolling the streets and carrying a gun.

CPD Chief Eliot Isaac won’t comment on previous incidents or individual officers, but says he has been “effective” in exacting discipline since he took over officially as full-time chief in December 2015.

Cincinnati Police chief Eliot Isaac prepares to speak to the media at the scene of a police involved shooting near the intersection of East 5th and Main Streets in downtown Cincinnati on Sunday, Aug. 7, 2016. The area around downtown's Government Square was blocked off to traffic as investigators examined the scene.(Photo: Sam Greene)

Cincinnati City Councilman and former CPD officer Wendell Young says the department may not be going far enough to weed out problem officers and called for annual mental evaluations.

“We don’t do enough on the back end with people to determine who should stay on the job and who should not,” Young said. “Once a person is on the job, there is not enough of that. Yes it’s expensive, but in a perfect world, I would do periodic mental examinations on all the officers.

“Over a period of time, everybody changes. And not everyone is cut out to be a police officer.”

But other policing experts say a record that includes multiple uses of force doesn’t equate into a problem officer.

“A lot of it depends on where you might be stationed, and the shifts and so on,” said Scott DeFoe, a former Los Angeles Police officer who fatally shot three different suspects and who was shot himself in his 26-year career. “Just because you have to shoot someone doesn’t mean you’re not doing your job. In many cases, you may have saved someone’s life.”

The Enquirer examined fatal shootings by Officer Orlando Smith, Sgt. Andrew Mitchell and Officer Oscar Cyranek as well as their personnel files and found several issues and complaints. The Enquirer attempted to contact all three officers through CPD, but none responded to interview requests.

A trio with a mixed history

Smith shot and killed Dontez O’Neal in November 2012, saying the teen shot at him first during an abortive drug stop.

O’Neal’s mother Anternita cites other witnesses who gave different accounts of the fatal shooting. She also questions why Smith was even on the force given his past record.

“And officers might get moved from one place to another where policing tactics need to be different and some don’t adjust,” said DeFoe.

Mitchell shot and killed David “Bones” Hebert in 2011, leading to a nearly $200,000 settlement by the city with the man’s family. He also was cleared. But the 10-year veteran who made sergeant in 2010 also had issues before and after that shooting.

“Andrew Mitchell is a problem officer and has cost the city a lot of money and took the life of my friend,” said Paul Carmack, an information technology worker who headed up the group “Friends of Bones” that helped the Herbert family secure that settlement and a partial apology from the city. “Yet he’s still out there, causing problems.”

At the time of the Hebert settlement, some black community leaders questioned why the city settled with the white Hebert family, while fighting other cases brought by families of black suspects who were shot.

Cincinnati city legal officials declined to discuss why they chose to settle the Hebert and Bauer cases and instead fought cases brought by families in other fatal shootings.

In 2003, CPD fired another officer – Patrick Caton – who was tried and acquitted for assault in the 2001 death of Roger Owensby. Three officers, including Caton, beat and choked Owensby during an arrest, and he later died of his injuries.

But an independent arbitrator reinstated Caton a year later and even awarded him $200,000 in back pay.

Then-Mayor Mark Mallory called the ruling "outrageous."

Caton was promoted to sergeant in 2008, and just recently passed the lieutenant exam, earning another promotion.

This is all part of what is called “the discipline matrix” set out in the contract the local police union has with the city.

Under that deal, serious disciplinary action that results in a demotion or a suspension of more than 30 days stays on their record for five years. Anything less than that stays on for three years – and that’s only if there are no more incidents in the interim.

If an officer is cleared of any wrongdoing in a fatal shooting, that also does not appear in a personnel file according to the contract.

“A fatal shooting, if justified, should not appear like a black mark on someone’s record – especially if that officer may have saved lives in the process,” said Steve Lazarus, who represents Cincinnati’s branch of the Fraternal Order of Police.

The discipline matrix lays out the possible punishments an officer can face, although the discipline can be reduced or eliminated by superiors.

The contract also includes the ability to appeal to an independent arbitrator or an internal set of officers known as “peer review.” A previous Enquirer investigation last summer showed that more than half of all disciplinary actions were reduced or eliminated by the peer review system over the last six-plus years.

Dan Hils, president of CPD’s chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, says the current system is fair to all concerned.

“We were always transparent, but never as transparent as we are now,” Hils said.

Chief Isaac declined comment on specific cases nor on contract negotiations that led to the current discipline system.

Despite contract restrictions, the department can weed out troubled officers, he says.

“As a police chief, I absolutely want to be able to discipline people … when I feel they committed a violation of our policies or rules or regulations,” Isaac said. “I’ve been effective in that.”

But department critics say the fact that officers such as Mitchell, Smith and Cyranek are still on the force means the community will always doubt police in general.

“We’ve never seen any transparency from the city or any accountability,” Carmack said. “And you can give all the training in the world, but a bad cop is a bad cop.”

Ofc. Orlando Smith

A 22-year CPD veteran, Smith shot and killed Dontez O’Neal in Avondale in 2012 after pulling him over during a drug bust.

Broke an individual's arm in an incident during the 1990s.

Shot another person non-fatally through the throat while on duty, and was cleared as it was suspected that the man was reaching for a gun. Devon Price was a passenger in a car that had been pulled over by Smith and his partner following a concert in 2004.

Smith ran over a woman while responding to another officer’s call for help in 2013, nearly killing her. CPD officials later cleared Smith of any wrongdoing, after placing him on administrative leave.

In 1997, Smith shot a man through the jaw while off duty. He said the suspect, Darnell Brown, tried to ram him with his car. Smith received a written reprimand for shooting after he was out of danger.

Smith was also investigated but cleared for possible excessive force in the arrest of Goldie Evans in 1995. Evans claimed he was kicked and hit with nail-studded wood by a group of officers, who were actually looking for someone else.

His dashcam inside his cruiser malfunctioned during both the O’Neal shooting and the pedestrian incident.

He also was suspended in the early 2000s for 40 hours after he hit another car in the West End after running a red light.

Smith has crashed his police cruiser eight times while on the force, incurring nearly $18,000 in damage according to his personnel file.

Sgt. Andrew Mitchell

Shot and killed David “Bones” Hebert in 2011, and was cleared. But the city settled with the family for nearly $200,000 and admitted some wrongdoing in the death.

Mitchell shot teenager Christopher Bauer in the back with a Taser in 2008, causing him to fall. The resulting head injury created permanent brain damage. It turned out that Bauer was wearing headphones and didn’t hear Mitchell’s commands. That led to a separate $200,000 settlement by the city to the teen’s family.

After the Hebert shooting, Mitchell was caught driving under the influence after midnight in Westwood, leading to charges that fellow officers hindered the crash investigation.

Overall, Mitchell had six complaints about his behavior leading up to the Hebert shooting, but none from the community since.

Ofc. Oscar Cyranek

Cyranek shot and killed Davon Mullins on Fountain Square in 2011. He was cleared, but there were questions at the time about the timing of when Cyranek fired and when Mullins threw his gun away, based on video surveillance footage. The shooting came after a struggle for the weapon.

After joining the force in 2006, Cyranek has been transferred six times, most recently to the PIVOT Unit of CPD’s special services section. PIVOT stands for Place-based Investigations of Violent Offender Territories, or a strategy to police locations or streets hit by high crime rates such as stores that are robbed frequently, etc.

Citizens filed seven complaints against Cyranek between 2006-2014, alleging excessive force, discourtesy and/or racial profiling. He was cleared in all except two involving “unprofessional conduct” or discourtesy. He received verbal counseling for one and a note in his file for the other.

A note also was placed in his file in 2011 after he failed to turn on his in-cruiser microphone during a previous police chase.

Cyranek also crashed his cruiser in 2008, but no one was hurt and no damage amounts were listed on his reports.